ISW: The Russians' Mechanized Assaults Were A Fiasco

• 24.12.2025, 10:40

The advance of the occupiers will remain slow.

Troops of the aggressor country Russia will not be able to make quick breakthroughs on the front and destroy Ukrainian defenses. The occupation army's achievements are limited to minor advances by small infantry groups, assessed by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in a Dec. 23 briefing.

Analysts note that over the past months, the Russian army has relied solely on infiltration tactics to achieve results on the front. Defense forces have effectively repelled Russian assaults involving equipment at platoon level or more, proving Russia's inability to restore mechanized maneuver on the battlefield, the report said.

"Russia's inability to conduct mechanized attacks that would lead to large-scale gains confirms that Russian forces will not be able to make quick breakthroughs and destroy Ukrainian defenses," the report said.

ISW, in particular, analyzes Russia's failed mechanized assaults of recent days in the directions of Dobropillya and Konstantinovka in Donetsk region. Defense forces in both cases repelled attacks and destroyed Russian equipment - tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and the like.

According to analysts, the density of Ukrainian drone and artillery strikes prevents the Russians from successfully maneuvering their equipment. Even Russian war correspondents admit that an offensive by groups of more than two occupants leads to deadly consequences.